cannabisnews.com: Pot-Smoking Event 'a Moral Slap In The Face'
Pot-Smoking Event 'a Moral Slap In The Face'
Posted by CN Staff on April 22, 2008 at 09:06:48 PT
By Tom Ragan, Sentinel Staff Writer
Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel
Santa Cruz, CA -- For those who arrest people who use, abuse or sell drugs, Sunday's pot-smoking festival at UC Santa Cruz was "a moral slap in the face to the cause," said Rich Westphal, task force commander with the Santa Cruz County Narcotics Enforcement Team. Despite efforts by the university to control access to campus, thousands of people, many of them students from UCSC and other California colleges, gathered at Porter Meadow to commemorate the so-called 4/20 cannabis culture holiday.
UCSC's once student-only gathering to smoke marijuana is now known nationally. It has grown to 5,000 people strong over the years, its popularity attributed to articles published in high-profile magazines like Rolling Stone and High Times Magazine - along with newer forms of social media, like YouTube. Though smoking pot is illegal, no one was arrested at the weed-smoking exhibition that unfolded Sunday. Monday, some readers and callers to the Sentinel expressed shock that police knew what was going on and yet nobody was arrested as they drove away from the gathering, apparently under the influence of marijuana. Grant Boles, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol in Aptos, said the CHP made no arrests Sunday but estimated that one in 40 DUI arrests is marijuana-related. "The symptoms are usually the same with marijuana as they are with DUIs," he said, referring to alcohol. Drivers high on marijuana, Boles said, tend to exhibit a decline in motor skills and swerve on the highway. Once they're stopped, they must undergo the same sort of field sobriety test as suspected drunken drivers, he added. In Santa Cruz, a city ordinance was passed by voters in 2006 making marijuana-related crimes a low priority for police. Calls to Santa Cruz police were not returned Monday. To Westphal, the massive turnout and the sheer amount of marijuana are symbolic of an even greater problem: How readily available marijuana is in California. "My guess is that it came from a conglomeration of places: Mexico, Canada, private properties," Westphal said. Add to that list countless state parks, large swaths of Bureau of Land Management property and caregivers who are designated to grow marijuana for those who are sick, said Westphal. "Sometimes they give it to their friends," he said. "California is a big growing area. Everybody knows that. But when you've got something like 6,000 people blowing smoke, it's a moral slap in the face to the cause." Marijuana use has long been identified with California. Not only does the climate lend itself to growing it, but the state's voter-passed medical marijuana law, one of few in the country, allows those who are sick to smoke the drug. Consider this: If somebody is caught in the street carrying an ounce of cannabis, even though it could be a felony, more often than not it turns out to be a misdemeanor if it even makes it to court system, said Sgt. Steve Carney of the Narcotics Enforcement Team. "Realistically, it's usually an infraction. It's rarely handled in the court system," Carney said of possession of cannabis. "Unless there's an extreme danger to the public, the court levels an infraction and a small fine under $100." These days, Carney said, law enforcement officers are dealing with commercial growers and sellers, not necessarily the ones who are smoking it for fun. The system, Carney said, is set up as such to allow for recreational use - or medicinal use. The two, however, are starting to become blurred, and sometimes officers have a difficult time distinguishing between those who are truly sick and those who are using the medical card as an excuse to smoke, he said. "Let's face it. The ability to go out and get medically certified and use it as a defense in court is just too easy," Carney said. Still, Carney thinks UCSC handled Sunday's "4/20" event in the best manner that it could. "I think it's like going to a concert and trying to rein in the activities of everybody going to the concert," Carney said. "All you can do is manage the problem at hand and makes sure it doesn't get out of hand." Though university police turned back dozens of cars whose passengers and drivers couldn't come up with a genuine reason why they were on campus other than to attend the festival, Barry Shilling, associate vice chancellor of communications for the university, said pedestrians and bicyclists had access. Whether that policy will change next year, it's too early to tell, Shilling said. "It's too premature to talk about next year," he said. "It's really discomforting to have a large crowd using drugs on campus at one time. We shouldn't let that get lost in a conversation about logistics, but the logistics themselves were undertaken. We were especially concerned about high school and junior high school students getting in." And some did. Two 17-year-old Soquel High and Cypress High School students who were mountain biking in the area said they smoke pot responsibly, but generally after they finish their homework. "Smoking pot," said one of the teens, "is one of the greatest joys in life if you do it responsibly." When asked whether he agreed with any of the studies on how marijuana can kill brain cells and affect short-term memory, the teen replied, "I think brain damage can have some very therapeutic effects sometimes." Complete Title: Police: Pot-Smoking Event in UCSC Meadow 'a Moral Slap In The Face'Source: Santa Cruz Sentinel (CA)Author: Tom Ragan, Sentinel Staff WriterPublished: April 22, 2008Copyright: 2008 Santa Cruz SentinelContact: editorial santa-cruz.comWebsite: http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #39 posted by Hope on April 24, 2008 at 08:35:48 PT
Comment 4
DEA guy showing off his big guns to parents and children... For God's sake...I keep asking myself... Why was he even doing that in the first place? What was the point?
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Comment #38 posted by Hope on April 24, 2008 at 08:29:38 PT
I'm thinking...
What do you guys think? Should we send this thread to the Santa Cruz Sentinel?
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Comment #37 posted by Hope on April 24, 2008 at 08:28:02 PT
Rich Westphal
Six thousand people blowing cannabis smoke in one place?If he's lucky, maybe he picked up enough cannabinoids in the air to stop that one little crazy cancer cell from growing and multiplying... or maybe he got a new brain cell or two stimulated into being.
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Comment #36 posted by Hope on April 24, 2008 at 08:20:16 PT
SLAP-O-GRAM
Lol! I love it, Runruff!Good to see your shining face over here, Ezryden.The comments in this string, every one, get to the core of the matter beautifully. Narc's "moral slap in the face"? He should just say, "Thanks! I needed that!"
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Comment #35 posted by OverwhelmSam on April 23, 2008 at 21:14:50 PT
My Motives Are Simple
I will not stop my efforts to legalize marijuana until Corona manufactures a bottle with a bowl built in to the bottom so that I can either drink my beer, or uncap the bowl and use it as a bong. I will use marijuana regardless of any law until they pry the beer/bong from my cold stoned hands.
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Comment #34 posted by runruff on April 23, 2008 at 19:53:39 PT:
#18
My wife and I were, one time, discussing annoying people. I suggested maybe we could start a business called SLAP-O-GRAM.You could just call the company and give the name and address and the person could, maybe with a big fake open hand, deliver a slap on the face to whom ever. Yeah, Grant Boles does endeavor to be something like a pain in the neck only a lot lower!
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Comment #33 posted by John Tyler on April 23, 2008 at 17:37:08 PT
analogies
Moral slap in the face, what a wordsmith, but, if the shoe fits… wear it. Here are some other analogies I came up with… Truth is a slap in the face of lies, and this one, Justice is the slap in the face of injustice, and finally, and I will let it drop, Freedom is a slap in the face of tyranny. That was fun.
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Comment #32 posted by observer on April 23, 2008 at 14:27:56 PT
Maybe One Day
Rich Westphal, task force commander with the Santa Cruz County Narcotics Enforcement Team...
[if there exist] 6,000 people blowing [cannabis] smoke, it's a moral slap in the face to the cause."1) Rich Westphal, Narcotics Enforcement task force commander, who each year sends hundreds of peaceful pot smokers and harmless cannabis growers to jail every year, stealing their possessions and keeping them for himself -- Rich Westphal is now some kind of a "moral" judge of something or anything at all? (Can you say "vested interest"?) 2) Rich Westphal now speaks on behalf of all those who don't wish to be jailed for using this particular plant? I wish. Maybe one day Rich Westphal will understand how he is hurting people who have harmed no one, and how he really isn't saving the children, and that his `little white lies' are harming people, not helping them. Maybe one day, Rich Westphal will see the light, and will join LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) http://LEAP.cc Maybe.
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Comment #31 posted by ezrydn on April 23, 2008 at 12:34:20 PT
Morality be damned
I'm sorry for such a title but I'm getting sick and tired of hearing the LEOs yell that smoking cannabis is "a moral slap in the face to the cause." While it's "illegal," there's nothing moral or immoral about it! There's no Biblical statement that it's "against God's will." In fact, it says that God made every growing thing, including those that produce seed.While God's Prohibition (The Garden) didn't work, Granny's Prohib II (the crime building Amendment) didn't work, either. Now, they can show nothing beneficial from Prohib III. Actually, Prohib III is the "Cartel's Right to Work" law. Since the US has a total hand's off position, the cartels fill the void left by governments. And, of course, governments get fished into this "immoral" position that just won't fly.While legalization won't happen tomorrow, the jack-booters have got to have a bit of sweat around their collars as they see "the People" attacking their position at both the State and Federal levels. One has to understand that the question "Where are you gonna be working tomorrow?" is starting to work into their psyches.We already know NOT to accept Federal monies as the cost of such acceptance is totally out of perspective (think "downstream" costs). I'd like to convey a question I got recently from a Mexican street cop. "Why does your country make it so easy for the Cartels to gather so much money?" He understood that with legalization, he could go back to real police work, instead of "babysitting." We did away with alcohol crime waves and the number's racket. How? We legalized, controlled and regulated the market. We (our grandparents) learned what it meant to give control to violent people...and changed it! And it only took grandpa and grandma 13 years to understand!! In just 10 short years, tobacco usage was cut 50% in the US. How? Education.The Nazis weren't allowed to use the "but we were only following orders" at their trials. So, why are police allowed to use that defense? Killing is killing. Murder or manslaughter...it's still KILLING! A pregnant mother, holding a child, lacking one hellova big "piece" in her hand, is NOT "collateral damage." Nor is it "friendly fire." Dead is dead, friendly or unfriendly.So, Commander Rich Westphal, let's pinpoint "immorality."
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Comment #30 posted by Hope on April 23, 2008 at 11:17:32 PT
It's finally time
to consider handling the legalities of it all. The real legalities of an end to a way overly harsh, cruel, wasteful, and stupid prohibition.
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Comment #29 posted by Hope on April 23, 2008 at 11:15:34 PT
You'd have to be so careful to keep
the special brownies separated from the regular brownies or treats.... just because we're nice... and who wants to waste it?But if an accidental consumption happened... it wouldn't be the end of the world or death or anything.
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Comment #28 posted by Hope on April 23, 2008 at 11:13:24 PT
Cannabis elixers
and patches might be a good idea for certain situations. Cooked grind in capsules?There's a lot of ways to consume it inconspicuously.Cannabis wine or beer?Most people, especially around children, should probably avoid the candy and treat forms.How bout One Hit Beer? Or Two Hit Beer? There's an idea.
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Comment #27 posted by tintala on April 23, 2008 at 11:01:01 PT:
NOT to mention all of the tobacco being used every
EVERYWHERE in front of kids. even all age events .....oh i'll just step 20 ft over here so that my second hand smoke doesn't bother you, but you can still see me smoking a cig.. There's even DESIGNATED areas in events, hospitals, airports, malls, that allow ppl to smoke cigs, even though a kid can see very well that the adults are smoking cigs... oh but wait there are patches that get you off nicotine.. so it's ok to smoke.. maybe i'll start smokn cigs coz theres a way to stop... LOL
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Comment #26 posted by FoM on April 23, 2008 at 08:41:02 PT
Kevin Nealon on 420
Kevin Nealon pontificates and plucks his banjo to the theme of 4/20.http://www.break.com/index/kevin-nealon-on-420.html
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Comment #25 posted by BGreen on April 23, 2008 at 08:30:36 PT
Aw, boo hoo
I really have a hard time empathizing with these thugs for getting a slap in the face since I've spent the past 32 years with their jack boots stomping on my head over this God-given plant.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #24 posted by museman on April 23, 2008 at 08:28:18 PT
the sound of a hand slapping
Record it, memorize it, write it down in your cop diary, discuss it over donuts, ok whatever.You (cops, lawyers, politicians, "lawmakers") stick your face WHERE IT DOESN'T BELONG what do you expect? Consider youself lucky we slap your face with truth, we could be one of you idiots and start shooting!Morality is an invention of the state. Ethics is the correct adjudication tool, use it.
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Comment #23 posted by Hope on April 23, 2008 at 08:20:41 PT
Dongenero and Overwhelm Sam...
They could set up a "slapping" booth and sell tickets.That was funny, Overwhelm Sam.
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Comment #22 posted by Hope on April 23, 2008 at 08:14:27 PT
Discomforting... hey?
"It's really discomforting to have a large crowd using drugs on campus at one time."Discomforting? Paranoid? Intimidated? Ooooh...Scary?Did he have a itchy trigger finger problem? That is scary... but all too common.Did he think the crowd might attack him? Did he think maybe he deserved being attacked? Did Nazi at Nuremberg come to his mind? Did he think the crowd might have a Haitian Necktie for him? How many assaults, thefts, rapes, and murders happened during the event? How many hundred car pile ups happened when it was over?Wake up brain soaked and brain washed by lies and propaganda, deluded prohibitionist/preventionists! The reality of a "large crowd" or a small crowd, or even one person, smoking cannabis is a lot less scary than your version of what reality should be.
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Comment #21 posted by dongenero on April 23, 2008 at 08:11:52 PT
I have an idea for next years 420
OverwhelmSam's funny post gave me an idea.We should set up dunk tanks with local DEA and NET officials in them for 420 celebrations.You could whip baseballs at the target and send the agents into the water. It would be very popular I bet.
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Comment #20 posted by dongenero on April 23, 2008 at 08:07:59 PT
slap in the face - deserved
Yes the Narcotics Enforcement Team has received a well deserved slap in the the face for their amoral actions.In fact, the day was a slap in the face to all the amoral cannabis prohibitionists.
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Comment #19 posted by Hope on April 23, 2008 at 07:50:26 PT
One Thousand or Six Thousand?
First, it was about "One thousand attended" the Santa Cruz event.Then... "It has grown to 5,000 people strong over the years..."Then... "But when you've got something like 6,000 people blowing smoke, it's a moral slap in the face to the cause."
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Comment #18 posted by OverwhelmSam on April 23, 2008 at 04:44:34 PT
SLAP SLAP
Take that! (Toke) Slap!Turn the other cheek LEO.Take that! (Toke) Slap!LOL
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Comment #17 posted by dankhank on April 23, 2008 at 04:20:51 PT
all age shows ...
I don't know what goes on at "all-age-shows,"but I saw an ad for one at Red Rocks, Denver a few years ago that featured Rev Horton Heat, Kottonmouth Kings and Insane Clown Posse, to name three I remember.all age show?sheesh ...
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Comment #16 posted by w000t311 on April 22, 2008 at 23:09:50 PT:
#12
They would never be able to sell marijuana at all-ages events unless it came in food form. You wouldn't be able to smoke it because there would be too many mothers up in arms about 2nd-hand smoke effects. However, I could envision magical brownies, rice Krispy treats, lollipops, banana bread, whatever being sold by mobile vendors. At least that can be consumed by one individual and not affect everyone around them.
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Comment #15 posted by Hope on April 22, 2008 at 23:04:10 PT
No. I was wrong.
Clubs, coffee houses, concerts, cafes, etc.
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Comment #14 posted by Hope on April 22, 2008 at 21:38:57 PT
Ending cannabis prohibition.
I think most smokers can agree not to smoke in outright public...except on these 420 events, gatherings,- and celebrations of the end of an injustice.
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Comment #13 posted by The GCW on April 22, 2008 at 18:29:05 PT
The IGNOID should TURN THE OTHER CHEEK.
IGNOID, Rich Westphal, task force commander with the Santa Cruz County Narcotics Enforcement Team-SHOULD TURN THE OTHER CHEEK.
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Comment #12 posted by tintala on April 22, 2008 at 17:13:49 PT:
what about tractor pulls and concerts
""It's really discomforting to have a large crowd using drugs on campus at one time."
HA......what about concerts and events held every year everywhere! MOST of these events SELL Alcohol.... and ppl pay huge for a cold beer at a hot concert. one day maybe(doubt it but cool concept) cannabis will be sold like alcohol is at these events.. When you need a bowl or joint just go to the stand, ohh but the kids.. umm well there is alcohol sold at all ages concerts and events , but they have no prob with that........
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Comment #11 posted by Hope on April 22, 2008 at 15:36:04 PT
Runruff, Comment 6
:0)Happy Earth Day to you, too.
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Comment #10 posted by Hope on April 22, 2008 at 15:32:40 PT
Moralist murdering brutes.
They need a "Moralist knot on the head", as well, probably.
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on April 22, 2008 at 15:28:21 PT
"Moral slap in the face"
I'm not exactly sure what that means... but if he thinks he got slapped in the face, somehow, by this peaceful assembly of citizens, and peaceful civil disobedience of an unjust law, then maybe he needed a good slap in the face of some kind.They, prohibitionists/preventionists, government, law enforcement, the Semblers, The Berthas, and Calvinas, and all and those kind of people, have been doing a "Moral murdering", and a "Moral beating the hell out of people", for quite some time now. Maybe it's time they stopped.
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Comment #8 posted by Sam Adams on April 22, 2008 at 14:40:55 PT
California's finest
Remember, if bad people break into your house and steal everything your have, or if bad people hurt you or someone in your family - these police are the ONLY people that can help you! It's illegal for you to take matters into your own hands. That's the scariest part of the corruption of law enforcement by the WOD. Once they're taking money from the drug rackets or just seizing it, what motivation do they have to solve real crime? Where is their fiscal incentive? Obviously their current incentive is to keep MJ illegal, that's obvious.It's hard to imagine - before alcohol and gambling prohibitions, the "mafia" as we know it didn't exist! I think that's what's hard for people to grasp. Most cops used to be honest! The only organized crime in the 1800's were train and bank robbers. Teenagers weren't blasting away at each other with guns in the cities! It wasn't always this way, our problems are self-inflicted.
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on April 22, 2008 at 14:13:53 PT
OT: Articles From The LA Times
America on Drugshttp://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-op-sullum-stimson21apr21,0,5775568.story***Raiding States' Rights?http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-op-sullum-stimson22apr22,0,6234322.story
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Comment #6 posted by runruff on April 22, 2008 at 14:12:57 PT:
neuroprotective.
Just how neuroprotective or neroproductive is coffee and doughnuts?Just thinking out loud here.Never mind!Happy Earth Day everyone!
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Comment #5 posted by dongenero on April 22, 2008 at 13:42:33 PT
Screwball Narcotics Enforcement
This Carney guy makes some strange circular and nonsensical statements.Have you noticed how prohibitionists often try to argue how lax they treat cannabis possession as some sort of reasoning that reform of the laws is not necessary?HEY, if you are not enforcing the laws, it makes no sense having those laws on the books AT ALL!Carney goes on to point out that this self imposed, so called lenient approach is set up to allow medical and recreational use. (I bet that's a surprise to the DEA!) yet he then states this makes it difficult to discern the medical users. Well, WTF...if you have a "system" of leniency for medical and recreational users then, why do you have to discern between them?????This Carney guy is grasping at straws, as all the cannabis prohibitionists are. Furthermore, killing brain cells????? Hey Santa Cruz Sentinel, check out the UCSD study that show cannabis to actually be neuroprotective. Maybe neuroprotective is too big a word for dumbed down articles.
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Comment #4 posted by augustwest on April 22, 2008 at 12:34:19 PT:
DEA agent
Runruff, that guy was a complete fool. After he shot himself in front of children all he could say was he probably won't be able to show guns anymore and wanted to hurry up and show some bigger guns and when the audience gasped he said "its not loaded". If it wasn't so scary that our government gives guns and a liscense to get away with anything to fools or anybody for that matter the video would be funny. But it is really sad and we should be outraged that keeping people from altering their mood has come to this. Talk about a moral slap in the face.
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Comment #3 posted by augustwest on April 22, 2008 at 12:20:41 PT:
brain cells
When asked whether he agreed with any of the studies on how marijuana can kill brain cells and affect short-term memory, the teen replied, "I think brain damage can have some very therapeutic effects sometimes."
THC has actually been found to stimulate healthy cellular growth in certain parts of the brain while inhibiting tumor growth. What studies is the author refering to or is he just spoonfeeding these kids more b.s. Nice article by Tom "the tool" Ragan
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Comment #2 posted by runruff on April 22, 2008 at 12:11:25 PT:
Morality????
Granny's holy drawers!Is the Santa Cruz Sentinel is or is it ain't?Are they for or against? Neutral?I've always liked this paper, I think?Of course the LEOs are whacked!Nothing new here. They give prospects for the police force an aptitude test to make sure they are properly brain washed or weak minded enough to go along to get along. Police should just shut up and eat their doughnuts and Waite for retirement. I saw a DEA agent shoot himself in the foot while demonstrating gun safety on youtube. I rest my case!
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Comment #1 posted by Max Flowers on April 22, 2008 at 09:53:49 PT
Lies!
Grant Boles, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol in Aptos, said the CHP made no arrests Sunday but estimated that one in 40 DUI arrests is marijuana-related."The symptoms are usually the same with marijuana as they are with DUIs," he said, referring to alcohol.Drivers high on marijuana, Boles said, tend to exhibit a decline in motor skills and swerve on the highway. THIS IS PURE BULLCRAP---in other words, lies. And being CHP, he KNOWS better than anyone that it's lies.
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